Reasons NOT to buy gift card for Airbnb

[Dennis139]

My kids bought us $300 in Airbnb gift cards as our Christmas gift, knowing that we will be making a trip soon with my sister-in-law and her husband.  We selected an Airbnb  and my sister-in-law booked the unit, paid her share, and set it up allowing for split payment.  When I tried to pay my share with the gift cards, I was told they could see the money in my account profile, but I could not use it. 

Only the person who makes the initial booking can use a coupon, but the system is set up so that it will not allow the second person in the group payment plan to pay with a gift card.  This is illogical; what is the difference between the first and second party that one user can use the gift cards and the other cannot?  They see the cash in my account.   

Now my kids spent money for me to use towards my accomodations for my trip; Airbnb sees and acknowledges it, but won't let me use it.  This restriction is not divulged to the user.  Who knows what other limitations there are?  Now it is just sitting in my account until I book another trip; maybe in a year if I'm lucky.  It would have been a better gift if I just paid with my credit card and my kids reimbursed me.  If we had known this, they would have not bought it, or at the very least, I would have made sure I booked it instead of my sister-in-law. 

Do not buy Airbnb gift cards for yourself or anyone else!  There is no benefit to it!!!  Why let Airbnb hold on to your money?  Now I have lost the use of my kids' gift money.   We just gave it away to Airbnb to hold and use however they want indefinitely.  Regular credit card companies will send you a check if you have a credit balance in your account after a period of time.  I doubt that Airbnb will let me have my credit balance back ever.  What a gimmick.  Don't fall victim.

[Cormac0]

@Dennis139

Can anybody please explain why one would want to buy an Airbnb gift card? other than the fact, you've never spent time on these Airbnb blogs.

It would appear every single activity Airbnb gets involved in comes with a mountain of bureaucracy.

[Michael2705]

To get 6% cash back from where I bought the gift card. 

[Tim666]

They are scammers.  They do this intentionally.  Here's a great write-up on how/why they are doing it.  They are holding on to our money.

https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=6905234989813025462#editor/target=post;postID=740067323...

[Rob257]

To get the points/miles credited (as you would normally get if booking a hotel instead of airbnb).

[Rachel919]

I cashed in all my frequent flyer miles for Air bob gift card to use as a second payment for my trip. Now I’m completely out of luck. 

[Tim666]

Its all a scam.  They do this intentionally.  Here's a great write-up on how/why they are doing it.  They are holding on to our money.

https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=6905234989813025462#editor/target=post;postID=740067323...

[JeanMarie33]

One thing you can do is completely cancel your reservation, take the refund (you'll lose the service fees) and then re-book from scratch using the gift cards. That's what I did. Ridiculous I had to do that though just to use my gift card...

[Cheryl391]

Airbnb is a Scam Artist.  How is it legal that they allow you to purchase gift cards and not use them on their site to pay for your reservation?!  I booked a $1200 reservation that we were splitting with another couple.  I paid for my half with my Visa.  The other couple purchased a gift card for me to load onto my account to be applied to the balance due.  Then I find out that it won't be excepted.  Nowhere did it say on my original reservation that a gift card couldn't be used as payment for the balance due.  When I was loading the gift card onto my account under the "add payment" screen, nowhere did it say that they gift card couldn't be used towards paying my balance due.  I've spent hours on the phone and on messages speaking to one person who actually agreed that it Airbnb was being deceitful.  I don't see how this is legal.  If they aren't going to accept gift cards as a form of payment for a reservation, then it should be very clear on the site, not buried in some legal terms and agreements that you need to dig through after the fact!  Class action suit will certainly happen.  I'll be the first to join in!

[Ken364]

Sure wish I would have seen this thread before the weekend... I just got duped by them too.  Of course the say "it's in the terms and conditons" but who would possibly expect this.  Now I am stuck with over $300 in credit they get to use and I have to come up with another $300 for the final payment.

I find it absolutely dishonest and a scam that they know they are doing.  But they can legally point to the terms.  I aslo find it apalling that they have never responded to any of these threads and see person after person really upset.  

Once I use my credit I am done with them!

[Sam680]

You need to spend hours reading every word on this website or else you may fall into a trap. Nobody treats gift cards the way airbnb treats them. 

I just found out their gift card policy the hard way. If you want to use a gift card: 

1) You must apply it to your account before starting the booking. 

2) You must pay in full at the time of booking. If you pay half up front, Aribnb will not use your remaining gift card balance to pay the rest. Instead they will charge your credit card. 

I paid only half up front with my gift card, and later they tried to charge my credit card when I had sufficient gift credit balance. After an hour on the phone and multiple escalations, I was able to get my trip canceled and I re-booked, paying the full amount all at once with my gift card. 

I spoke with four representatives to try to understand their policy, but none had a reasonable answer as to why this policy exsits. 

[Bryan252]

I"m having the same issue... I had a $100 Superhost credit and a gift card . used the Superhost credit because it expires and the i could not use the gift card credit.

When you cancelled you got the money back and were able to rebook using the full amount?

[Rebecca844]

I received a gift card for $50. It does not work and I have spent an hour with customer service, as of yet still not resolved. It is way too much work and a waste of time for fifty bucks.

[Maribeth6]

I too have been scammed by Air B and B gift card offers.  I purchased a gift card for my son and his wife for Christmas.  Unfortunately he lost the information with the code and I do not have it. While I can prove I spent the money with a credit card and the information that I bought the card is with Amazon....NO ONE will allow me access to the gift amount.  EAch blames the other for not doing what they should do and I am in the middle out of my money.  THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I spent hours today trying to talk with both amazon and air B and B.....all to no avail.  What a scam.  Be forwarned,.  NEVER BUY A GIFT CARD FOR AIR B AND B!!!

[Kenny116]

You are better off to skip airbnb all together.  I received a gift card but they would not let me use it unless i gave them a credit card.  Also makes no sense.  Then I put the gift card in my account and made a reservation which was then immeadiatly charged to my credit card.  Totally their system is f**ked up.  And when I called to get this straightened out customer service was useless in reversing the charge to my card and could do nothing - except they said i would get my money back in two weeks. Oh great. You screw up take my money in ten seconds but I don't get it back for 14 days??????????????  Then they blame the banks.  

Jusdt forget airbnb.  Its not wortyh the hassle.

[James1523]

I simply cancelled my reservation, waited less than 10 minutes for my refund to credit my account and then rebooked the reservation and paid in full. Since I was outside of 30 days, I got a full refund when I cancelled. Thankfully, I didn't lose it to someone else while I was waiting for my refund.